Beyond Chocolate: Adrian Cadbury Life, Loss and Leadership
In conversation with Patrick Donovan, author of the biography, on celebrating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Cadbury business, the Cadbury Code, and how ethics and capitalism need not be mutually exclusive.
Scion of the great Quaker chocolate dynasty, Adrian Cadbury (1929-2015) was educated at Eton and Cambridge (taught by Arthur Pigou and Nicholas Kaldor at King's College), yet never quite fitted into the mould of the British establishment. As one of the most influential business personalities of the later 20th-century, he was a committed capitalist, but championed workers’ rights and backed numerous social causes. By his death, he had given most of his fortune away. To most people, however, his private life remained a closed book, overshadowed by a string of family tragedies and the eventual hostile take-over of his world famous family-owned business. The Cadbury Report, his pioneering work on corporate governance remains his greatest legacy (the Cadbury Archive is at the Judge Business School), but Adrian Cadbury’s career ranged far wider. With 2024 marking Cadbury’s 200th anniversary, this is his first biography, and one drawn from interviews with the family and those who knew him. He was a huge public figure of his era – but few at the time understood the tragedy in his life, or how hard-won were the successes he achieved.
WHEN: Thursday, 21 November 2024
5.00 PM – 5.30 PM: Drinks reception and networking in Chetwynd Room
5.30 PM – 6.30 PM: Fireside discussion in Keynes Lecture Theatre
6.30 PM – 7.00 PM: Book signing and drinks in Chetwynd Room
WHERE: King’s College, Cambridge
TICKETS: get your free ticket here.